Alcoholism Doesn’t Always Mean Divorce

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Alcoholism is almost always a huge relationship issue. Some people choose to stay with a spouse with an addiction, and some choose to divorce. In Mark Suppelsa’s case, he and his wife, Candus managed to stay together. He said the journey isn’t easy, but he’s loving sobriety. Here is my interview with Suppelsa, who also offers tips to those who think either they or a spouse has a problem.

Mark Suppelsa still remembers what his wife, Candus, said to him seven or eight years ago.

“She would say, ‘You’re not you, you’re distant, you’re edgy, you’re not as funny as you used to be,'” Suppelsa said.

Distant? Edgy? Not funny? That sure doesn’t sound like the well-loved news anchor Chicago has been watching on three major networks for 25 years.

But Suppelsa, who is currently the co-anchor of WGN’s evening news, said Candus turned out to be right, and that a hideous condition was responsible for impacting his personality, his life and ultimately his relationships: alcohol addiction. Suppelsa checked himself in to an addiction treatment center in 2012 and says he has been sober and in ongoing treatment ever since.

“When I was in the thick of my alcoholism, life was gray and I just wanted to make it through the day. I’d complain a lot and when my wife and kids would talk to me, I’d be listening with one ear while thinking about the bottle of wine I was going to have later,” said Suppelsa, who has been married to Candus for 27 years. The couple has two children.